Editor's Note: Happy Birthday to Us!

Growing up, I got to have an ice cream sundae for breakfast on my birthday every year. It wasn’t until I got much older that I started to think that birthdays are best left uncelebrated.

Oh, who am I trying to kid? I never felt that way; I still want someone to come and throw confetti on me every Feb. 5. And it’s in that spirit that FundRaising Success will mark its first birthday. Not with confetti and ice cream (although that’s not a bad idea), but with ... can we get a drum roll, please ... Major Announcements of Exciting Changes!

First, I’m thrilled to say that Associate Editor Paul Barbagallo has been promoted to senior editor. As such, he’ll be taking on lots more responsibility around here.

Not that he didn’t have plenty already. Paul, who has been with North American Publishing (which publishes FS and its sister publications, Target Marketing and Inside Direct Mail) since 2001, has been an exuberant member of the FS team nearly since the magazine was conceived. He was one of the first people to greet me at the DMA New York Nonprofit Conference, which I attended the day after I was hired, even before stepping foot in my office here in Philadelphia.

Because he was so much more in tune with what FS was all about, Paul very graciously helped me navigate myriad questions from conference attendees — and managed to do so without letting me make myself look too foolish. He’s been a highly competent voice and powerful presence for the magazine ever since.

The more the merrier
Part of the reason FS needs a senior editor is that we’re growing. We published six issues in 2004 and are increasing our frequency to nine times in 2005, with an eye to going monthly in 2006. This gives us even more opportunities to provide you with the kind of useful, straightforward information that I hope you’ve come to expect from FundRaising Success. We’ll also be adding some new regular features and three new columns. Next year’s issues will be January/February, March, April, May, June, July/August, September, October and November/December.